It's All My Fault
by MobBob
Summary: Peggy starts having nightmares about the war and Angie tries to help her overcome her grief, but Peggy refuses to open up.


Angie lay in bed, trying to go to sleep, but she couldn't. Currently, Peggy was tossing and turning in her bed. At one point, Peggy almost rolled out of the bed and onto the floor. Angie caught her and pulled her back on the bed. Peggy's eyes briefly fluttered open, but she quickly went back to sleep. This wasn't anything new. For the past few weeks, Peggy had been having nightmares and Angie had been forced to watch over her. Angie put her arms around Peggy, stroking her hair in a vain attempt to calm her down. "Shhhhh. It's just a bad dream. Relax, you'll be fine."

"Lercheberg! Lercheberg!" Peggy had been saying those words all week. Angie thought the word sounded German. Angie had went to the library to see if there was maybe any information about it. This search showed some results. Angie had found a German town named Lercheberg, but it had seemed to have disappeared off the map around the time of the war. Angie couldn't find anything about why it disappeared, but probably figured the reason was probably something horrific. Something Angie didn't want to know about.

Peggy rolled over again, this time pinning Angie to the bed. "It's all my fault."

"It's okay." Angie gently lifted Peggy off her and rested her on her back. Peggy had mentioned that she had served in Europe, and Angie figured that maybe Lercheberg was a town she had passed through, maybe even fought in. She had heard about stuff like this happening. Soldiers coming home and having nightmares, or worse, about the stuff they had seen. Angie had never pictured this happening to Peggy. She seemed so put together. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Peggy had always put on a brave face, but there were things she had kept hidden from Angie. Angie decided that she would have to ask Peggy about it in the morning when they woke up.

* * *

Angie was the first to awaken, which was surprising considering she had practically been up all night. Tossing and turning must have taken a lot out of Peggy. Angie went over to the stove and began cooking. She wasn't a chef by any stretch of the imagination, but she could cook some basic things like eggs or toast. She had just finished preparing breakfast, when Peggy came out of the bedroom. She stumbled into the kitchen, still tired from last night. Angie simply smiled at her. "Morning English."

Peggy yawned. "Morning Angie. I see you cooked breakfast."

"You hungry." Angie handed Peggy a plate full of scrambled eggs and toast.

"Oh thank you." Peggy took the plate and sat down at the table. "You shouldn't have."

"Don't mention it." Angie sat down and began eating her food. "Hey Peg, are you feeling alright?"

"Of course," said Peggy, turning her eyes to her food. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," said Angie. "You just look a little tired."

"I'm fine. Maybe I've been having a little trouble going to sleep." Peggy picked up a forkful of scrambled eggs.

Angie buttered her toast. "I can see that."

Peggy almost dropped her fork. "You can?"

"Well I can feel you tossing and turning," said Angie. "And I heard you mumbling something."

The color seemed to drain from Peggy's face and she bit her bottom lip. "You heard me?"

"Yeah, you were talking in your sleep," said Angie. "You were saying something about...I couldn't quite make out the work. I think it was Larkberg. Do you know what that means?"

Peggy just stared at her plate, obviously deep in thought. She rested her hand on the table. Angie decided not to say anything and finished her breakfast. She got up and took her plate to the sink when Peggy broke the silence. "It was Lercheberg. That's what I was saying."

"Lercheberg?" said Angie. "Where's that?"

"How do you know it's a place?" said Peggy.

"Well...it just sounds like a place," said Angie. "You know, like a town."

Peggy thought about what Angie had said, and eventually decided that her explanation made sense. "It was a town in Germany. There was a battle there."

Angie sat back down on her chair. She put her hand on Peggy's. "Were you there during the battle."

"Yes," said Peggy.

Angie took a deep breath. "What happened there? Did you see something that-"

Peggy pulled her hand away from Angie. "I didn't see anything. At the start of the fighting, I...I was knocked out by a mortar shell. I was out for the whole battle."

Angie raised an eyebrow. "Is that true?"

"Yes, of course it's true," said Peggy with as much conviction as she could muster, but it didn't convince Angie.

"Peggy," said Angie. "What really happened?"

Peggy looked to her feet, trying to avoid eye contact with Angie. She sighed. "You really want to know?"

"Yes," said Angie.

* * *

Peggy stood in a cramped farmhouse. She was surrounded by a collection of scared civilians and wounded soldiers. Outside she could hear the sounds of the advancing German army. She could hear gunfire and the sounds of mortar shells. Tanks cranked down the road. The sounds seemed to be moving away though. The Germans had likely assumed that the farmhouse was empty and had moved on to more important targets. Peggy hoped that maybe they would be left alone for the rest of the battle. She looked around. None of these people were in an condition to fight. She doubted that she could hold off the Germans all by herself. She breathed a sigh of relief as the sounds of battle began to fade. However, they weren't out of the woods yet. In the corner of the farmhouse was a young boy, sixteen if Peggy had to guess, who was hyperventilating. Peggy went over to him and tried speaking to him in German. "Look, you need to calm down. The soldiers are leaving."

The boy didn't listen to her. He got up and ran to the door of the farmhouse. Peggy grabbed his arm. "You can't leave. They'll see you."

However, the boy didn't listen this time either. He broke out of her grip and ran out of the farmhouse. Peggy tried to run out after him, but before she could, she heard a gunshot and the sound of a body hitting the ground.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Angie was distracted. She misplaced two orders and almost forgot when her shift was up. She kept thinking about the story Peggy had told her. This was something big. Peggy had confided some secrets in Angie, but nothing this traumatic. She almost felt sorry about asking Peggy to tell her about it, but she figured Peggy needed to tell someone. It couldn't be healthy to keep that all inside. It was during these musing, that a thought hit Angie. She wondered how Peggy managed to escape the German army. If they had shot the boy, they must seen the farmhouse. Did Peggy have to fight them off? Angie thought about this and wondered if something happened that Peggy wasn't telling her. Angie thought about this when she got home, waiting for Peggy. Eventually Peggy came home. "Evening Angie. Who were things at the Automat?"

"You know, the usual," said Angie.

"That's nice to hear," said Peggy, putting her coat on the rack.

Angie watched her do this and finally spoke when she was done. "Hey, what happened later?"

"What do you mean?" said Peggy.

"Your story," said Angie. "What happened after the boy...was killed."

Peggy froze. "Um...nothing. The Germans left us alone."

"They did?" said Angie. "They didn't try to investigate the farmhouse?"

"No," said Peggy. "They were too distracted by the other soldiers."

"But not distracted enough to shoot a boy?" said Angie.

Peggy looked stunned by the question and Angie immediately began to regret asking it. Eventually, Peggy spoke. "Look, we were lucky that they avoided the farmhouse. It was tragic, but it could have been worse."

Angie got up and grabbed Peggy. "Peggy, what happened there? There's something you're not telling me."

Peggy pushed Angie back. "I told you everything. The boy was shot by a sniper. That's...that's what happened. I'm sure of it."

"You're sure of it?" said Angie. "Do you know what happened?"

"Yes," said Peggy. "I...I know that's how happened."

"You don't sound too sure of it," said Angie. "Let me ask you, was that all that happened?"

At that moment Peggy collapsed into Angie's arms and began sobbing. "No. No. I don't know."

* * *

Peggy grabbed the boy by the arm. "You can't leave. They'll see you."

The boy didn't listen and broke out of her grip. Peggy immediately grabbed the boy and pinned him against the wall off the farmhouse. The boy struggled, trying to cry for help. "Be quiet. They'll hear you."

The boy kept struggling. Peggy put her hand over the boy's mouth, trying to muffle his screams. He tried to shake her off jerking his head from side to side. She pushed down harder on the boy. "Be quiet. Just be quiet!"

At that moment the boy jerked his head to the side just as Peggy pushed him against the wall. Right then, Peggy heard a snapping sound. Peggy pulled away from the boy as she realized what had just happened. The boy's body dropped to the ground. He didn't make a sound.

* * *

Angie put her arms around Peggy as the latter was sobbing. "It's all my fault! I killed him!"

"It was an accident," said Angie. "You did what you had to do."

"He didn't need to die," said Peggy. "I didn't have to kill him."

"We all make mistakes." Angie cradled Peggy in her arms. She stroked her hair, trying to get Peggy to calm down when she noticed an old newspaper. It was from last Sunday. Apparently they hadn't thrown it away. Angie noticed an article on the front page. It was about a Nazi war criminal who had been executed. The article mentioned that he had been responsible for a massacre at Lercheberg.


End file.
